Well, here we go again. Recently, I wrote a blog discussing my favorite record album for each decade. Since I have quite a bit of time on my hands (sound familiar?), I’m at it again.
This time, it’s my favorite movie for each decade starting with the ’50s (I’m almost 74, so I have no going to a movie in the ’40s). Ground rules: I saw the film in a theater, not on VHS or DVD; Our understanding: I am NOT a movie critic, don’t pretend to be one. I can’t even say for sure that they’re good movies. Good, bad, or mediocre, they are movies I loved, and I love movies.
The ’50s: Because I was pretty young and didn’t have a real source of income, I didn’t go to a lot of movies. I’m not sure of the year, but I believe it was somewhere around 1953 or 1954, my mother took me to see “Hans Christian Anderson,” starring Danny Kaye. “Hans Christian Anderson” was a musical based on the life of Hans Christian Anderson, whose fairy tales I had loved when my mother read them to me before I could read.
When my mother offered to take me to see it, I was “wow.” And the movie was “wow” at least to me. The songs were fantastic, Danny Kaye was a terrific Hans Christian Anderson, his love interest was beautiful. Wow! It was truly memorable. Later, I think for Christmas, I was given the soundtrack album as a present. I had it for years.
Two notes to add: (1) a couple of years ago, I bought a copy of the DVD and watched it with my granddaughters, who were then 7 and 5. Although they enjoyed it, it wasn’t magic for them the way it was for me. (2) My younger stepdaughter is a real movie aficionado. At one time, I told her about “Hand Christian Andersen,” and she somehow found a used copy of the soundtrack, which was an unexpected Chanukah surprise.
The ’60s: Just as the music of the ’60s made it impossible for me to choose just one favorite LP for the decade, I need to cite two movies as my favorites for the ’60s. I have seen “Hard Days Night,” the Beatles’ first movie, at least ten times. I showed it to my granddaughters a few months ago and they, who like the Beatles’ music, really liked it. I first saw it with some friends who also loved the Beatles. We were so into it that we went back to see it again the next night and the night after that. I can say first hand that it stood the test of time, as had my other favorite movie from the ’60s, “Bedazzled.” “Bedazzled” stars two big-time British comic actors, Peter Cooke, and Dudley Moore.
Cooke plays Satan, and the movie centers around his efforts to get back into God’s good graces and be welcomed back into heaven. He operates a night club with the seven deadly sins, including a young Raquel Welch as “Lust.” I watch it every few years.
The ’70s: My favorite movie of all is the movie from this decade. To preface, when I was in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, I loved horror movies.
Every Friday and Saturday night, I was allowed to stay up late to watch monster movies. For example, Dracula, the Werewolf, and the Mummy in all their various forms. Thus, Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein,” totally captured me. As much as I laughed during “Bedazzled,” when I first saw “Young Frankenstein,” I laughed harder, longer, and more often than I ever have at the movies. Without getting too far into the plot, I’m going to describe one scene: Dr. F brings the monster to New York, and to demonstrate his handiwork, he and the monster perform a song and dance to “Putting On The Ritz.” If you haven’t seen it, and you need a laugh during these difficult times, rent it.
The ’80s: John Sayles is one of my favorite filmmakers. “The Brother From Another Planet” is my favorite of his films and my movie of the ’80s. The movie opens with an alien in a space ship that crashes near Harlem in New York City. It turns out the alien, looks like an African-American earth person except for his feet, was a slave who escaped from the planet on which he was enslaved.
As the plot develops, the “brother” ends up working in a bar in Harlem, where his former captors eventually pursue him. There’s a definite social message in this movie, but I never felt the film was preachy, just engaging, and often funny.
The ’90s: There were a lot of movies I truly enjoyed in the ’90s. “Shawshank Redemption” and “A League of Their Own” (“there’s no crying in baseball”), “Good Fellas” and “Schindler’s List,” to name four. However, my number one for the ’90s is hands down “Silence of The Lambs.” I was captivated from beginning to end. I paid attention to this movie as if my life depended upon it. Hannibal Lecter is both the scariest and most interesting character I have ever experienced in a film. I think I made clear at the beginning of this blog that these are personal favorites. What the critics said didn’t matter. However, “Silence of the Lambs” won six-the Academy got it right.
2000’s: One of my very favorite television shows in this decade was “Firefly,” the story of the spaceship version of a tramp steamer, the Serenity, transporting cargo, and avoiding the authorities, in part because the captain and first mate had been part of a failed rebellion. It was mainly a western set in outer space. “Firefly” was canceled before one full season, but a few years after it aired, it gave birth to “Serenity,” a movie that picked up the story from the end of the tv series. It’s a sci-fi adventure movie with a lot of plot and great dialogue, and when I first heard about it, I couldn’t believe there was going to be a movie about this tv show I missed. I had high expectations, and the film didn’t let me down. Fifteen years later, I’m still hoping for a sequel.
2010’s: Steve Buscemi is one of my favorite actors. He doesn’t often get starring roles, but in “The Death of Stalin,” he is the first among equals in this satirical farce about the political machinations and scrambling for power following Stalin’s death. I don’t know what else I can say about the film-the the various character’s power-grabbing ploys provided a running joke that never got old for me. Laughing is therapy, and I was well therapied after “The Death of Stalin.”
And that’s that; maybe my favorite TV shows of each decade is next?
– Edward from McMinnville, Oregon, a FAR customer who is finding purpose in this new stage of his life.
Edward
Edward writes for FAR and is also a customer. He is 73-year-old, born and raised in and around New York City. After college and a little graduate school, he took Horace Greeley’s advice and went west. Edward lived in several cities throughout California and currently resides in Oregon. He practiced law for a few years as part of a law collective doing what they called “people’s law,” but spent most of his career working as an internal organizer for the unions.
When Edward’s career ended with the unions, he was determined to become an advocate for older adults. He enrolled at Portland Community College studying Gerontology. He learned a lot about aging and how it applied to his own life experiences and my own aging process. Much of Edward’s writing is related to what he learned in his Gerontology studies.
* The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Finance of America Reverse (LLC).
This article is intended for general informational and educational purposes only, and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. For more information about whether a reverse mortgage may be right for you, you should consult an independent financial advisor. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional.
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